Thomas m



(No Model.)

T. M. FOOTE.

Sinker and Weight for Fishing Lines.

. No. 231,417. Patented Aug.'24,1880.

fl 'yarej- NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS M. FOOTE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SiNKER AND WEIGHT FOR FISHING-LINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent "No. 231,417, dated August 24, 1880.

Application filed Apiil 27, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs M. FooTE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful article of manufacture embodying certain new and useful Improvements in Sinkers or Weights, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in sinkers or weights to be attached to fish-lines or other suspending materials for the purpose of causing downward movement or maintaining position; and the object of my improvements is to provide a sinker or weight capable of being applied, attached, and secured to a fish-line or other flexible suspending material without cutting or knotting the latter or touching or in any way handling either extremity thereof, and also to provide a sinker or weight such that when applied, attached, or secured, as hereinafter described, the matter composing the same shall be uniformly, or nearly uniformly, and evenly disposed on all sides of and relatively to said fish-line or other suspending material at the point or points where the latter passes through it or at which it is attached, thereby securing steadiness and diminishing the tendency of the weight to whirl and twist that to which it is attached. I attain these objects by constructing and shaping my sinker or weight as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the sinker or weight, showing the method of attaching the same to the cord or other flexible suspending material. Fig. 2 is another perspective view of the sinker or weight from a different point of view. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same in the plane of the line as m, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same in the plane of the line y 3 To construct my said sinker or weight I proceed as follows: The weight is first shaped to the desired exterior form or size out of metal or any other suitable material and by the usual and well-known mechanical methods. The general exterior form or shape of my sin ker or weight is, of course, immaterial but 1 prefer an elongated, symmetrical, and rounded form, as shown in the drawings. I then cut or drill in the usual way through said sinker or weight and along the line of its longitudi- (No model.)

nal axis a bore of sufficient diameter to admit of the easy passage through it of the cord or other suspending substance by which it is proposed to sustain it. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 represent the direction of said bore within the weight, said bore being carried through the weight and opening at either extremity thereof at the points 0 and 0, Figs. 1, 2, and 3. I next cut from the outside of said weight, directly toward and into said bore, the longitudinal slit a, Fig. 1, of the same width as said bore, and extending on the outside of the weight from o to 0, Fig. 1, and into the substance of said weight directly toward and into said bore along the whole longitudinal extent of said slit, as shown in Fig. 3, to. Then in planes at right angles to the plane of said longitudinal slit a, at each extremity of the latter, I cut the transverse slits a a each of the same width as the slit a, and each being cut from the outside of said weight (but on opposite sides thereof) across the same, until they open into the longitudinal slit to. (See a a, Fig. 1, showing exterior lips of said slits, and a a, Fig. 2, showing the direction thereof into the substance of said weight when seetionally exposed.) I finally cut into each end of said weight the slits a a of the same width as the slits already described. a a are out in the same plane as the longitudinal slit (1, but on the opposite side of the bore 0, and from the outside of said weight into the substance thereof in the direction of and until said slits a" a open into the bore 6, and the transverse slits a. to throughout the whole extent of said slits a a, (see Fig. 1,) showing the exterior position of one of said slits a, and Fig. 2, showin g the exterior position and inward direction of both of said slits a a.

It is evident that, instead of boring and cutting my sinker or weight into shape as aforesaid, the same result may be attained and the sinker or weight constructed by casting the same in a suitably-prepared mold according to the well-known methods.

My weight is now completed, and it remains only to apply to it the cord or other suspendin g material in compliance with the conditions hereinbefore named to render said weight useful as such.

To apply the cord, 850., I press any part of said cord into one of the slits a, and retain it there by the requisite pressure of my fingers, or otherwise; then, following the free cord, I press an adjacent portion thereof around the weight and into the adjacent transverse slit a. Retaining the portions of the cord so placed in position, I repeat the operation described with the disengaged portion of the cord, inserting in like manner any part thereof into the slits a and a at the other extremity of said weight. The cord is then in the position shown by the dotted line at the more elevated end of the weight, as represented in Fig. 1, at both extremities of the weight, and a portion of the cord 0, Fig. 1, hangs in a slack ready to be drawn into the longitudinal slit (1. I then seize the cord where it issues from the mouths of the bore 0 at each extremity of the weight, and, drawing the cord simultaneously in oppositedirections away from the ends of the weight, the slack of the cord 0 will be gathered in, and will easily draw into the longitudinal slit to until the cord is entirely straightened, when it will lie within the bore L throughout the latters whole extent, and the weight will slip freely to any desired position on the cord, and

can be there retained by simply giving the cord a twist around the shoulder of the weight formed by the slits a and a, as is shown by the cord and dotted line, as represented at the lower extremity of the weight. (See Fig. 1.)

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of manufacture, a sinker or weight having a longitudinal bore extending through its body, longitudinal slit a, transverse slits a a, and slits a" a, extending outward from the.transverse slits, substantially as and for the purposes indicated.

2. A sinker or weight having a longitudinal bore and slits opening from the exterior of the sinker-body into the bore and at an angle to each other, whereby said sinker or weight may be slipped onto the line or other flexible suspending material and held in position by means of the angular projections formed by the slits.

THOMAS M. FOOTE.

Witnesses:

Gno. S'rIMrsoN, Jr., FRANK II. llYA'lT. 

